loopholes
by raffertysdonna
Summary: 'Harvey's always thought of them as a team, ready to go to war for one another; but it's never come to that before. It's never come down to one of them going absolutely crazy trying to protect the other.' Set in 2x07.


_A/N: So, I pretty much wrote this in one sitting yesterday. I was writing another fanfiction and 2x07 of Suits was playing in the background. Then the scene where Harvey waits for Donna in front of her apartment and tries to convince her to do the trial run came on and for some reason it made me wonder what could have happened if Donna hadn't walked away. _

_Big thanks to Ruth who beta'ed this little something last night. I hope you enjoy it._

* * *

_loopholes_

.

He grabs her hand out of pure instinct before she manages to walk away from him. His heart is pounding in his chest and he can feel the blood rushing in his ears from all the stress he is under.

It's less about the upcoming trial and more about Donna getting fired. It's about him not knowing how to handle this situation. He hasn't called her yet because he couldn't, the thought of hearing Donna's voice and realising that this is real, that she lost her job trying to protect him too much to handle; the thought that she would do this for him too much to fathom.

Everything is happening so quickly, he barely has time to eat or sleep. Thinking about what Donna's actions mean on a personal level is not something he thinks he can face. He's always thought of them as a team, pulling on the same string, working for the same side, ready to go to war for one another; but it's never come to that before. It's never come down to one of them going absolutely crazy trying to protect the other.

If Harvey had some time to think, he'd know that he would have done the exact same thing for her if the roles were reversed, but he doesn't. All he knows is that he is annoyed that she's no longer there, sitting in her cubicle, typing away, bringing him vanilla coffee and making him smile. He misses it, her, even if it's unconsciously.

His hand is still wrapped around her wrist. Donna stares at him wide-eyed.

"Donna."

"I decline to answer."

His eyes soften. He hadn't meant to rile her up. Even though it looks like he only came here to ask her to do the trial run, it wasn't the main reason. The need to see her had overwhelmed him and he wanted to kill two birds with one stone. All he knows now is that he doesn't want her to walk away.

She withdraws her arm after a moment, clearly having had enough and wanting to get away from him. He had given her not one reason not to assume that he cared about anything other than the case and the trial and the firm.

"Goddamnit. Donna, I'm sorry."

This manages to catch her attention and she stares at him in disbelief. "About what? Not firing me yourself? Not calling? The list is endless really."

She's not being easy and she has every right to be angry. They've always been more than just colleagues but in light of recent events he gets why she is so frustrated; her upset clear in the way her eyes seem to swim in emotions she doesn't allow herself to feel and the way she is being difficult. She's just trying to protect herself.

Harvey almost whines. He's not good at this. "Look, I should have called you myself." He doesn't mention the firing. They both know he could never do it, he would rather kill her than fire her.

"Then why didn't you?" she shoots back, asking him once again.

For a split second, Harvey's face shifts into that 'deer in headlights' look Donna's not sure she's ever really seen on him before, but then it's gone and Harvey relents.

"You know I don't function very well without you," he admits sheepishly and it melts some of Donna's frostiness away. She gives him a nod and agrees, "I know that."

"Then why did you ask?"

"Sometimes it's nice to hear that you're needed and wanted." She doesn't mean it like that, or maybe she does, but Harvey's gaze drops to her lips and then lower, over her clavicles down to where her cleavage is revealed and it stays there.

He may not say it often but his stolen glances have shown it over the years. He'd been more obvious when they were still working at the DA's office but she's Donna, she _feels_ his stolen glances, even if they have become rarer. She likes it, the effect she has on him after all this time.

Except that now, he isn't hiding it. It feels like something shifted when she mentioned she likes hearing that she is wanted.

His next words almost make her choke.

"You know, it just occurred to me that we don't work together anymore."

The look on Harvey's face when their eyes meet stops Donna's heart altogether. He is looking at her the same way he looked at her when he was standing in front of her door the day she quit the DA's office. There's a smile tugging on his lips but it's his eyes that get her, his pupils to be exact. They are so far dilated that there's no mistaking as to what he actually means by his words and her breath catches in her throat.

Rationally, she knows this could go two ways. She knows she has the power to stop this if only he weren't so fucking right.

They aren't working together anymore and her career might be in shambles because she tried to protect him. It's second nature to her, she didn't even really think about it, he is her priority. _Was. _She doesn't work for him anymore, which is a thing she keeps forgetting, or maybe she is repressing the thought on purpose.

She wants it, him. The realisation that Harvey wants her, too, is not surprising. They've been living in blurry lines and drinks after work long enough for her to know that the attraction is mutual.

It's the rest, her rule and his emotional unavailability, that prevents them from becoming more than they already are.

There is only one beat, her heart beating so fast she can't form a coherent thought, then a smile is also forming on her lips and Harvey knows she is game. "Yeah, this didn't just occur to you," she reiterates the words she said moments before Harvey's lips pressed against hers urgently years ago.

"No, it didn't." Maybe consciously it didn't, but it is the reason he is here.

Harvey closes the distance between them in one swift motion and his body presses against hers. His mouth closes over her lips and all she can do is respond eagerly. She forgets that they are still standing on the sidewalk in front of her apartment, she forgets it's the middle of the day and why they didn't do this again sooner.

After denying herself for years, she can finally indulge and while she never wanted it to happen this way again, it is what she gets and she takes it.

Her arms rise on their own accord, landing on his shoulders. Her hands hover around the back of his head for a few seconds before settling there and she pulls him closer.

They stumble into her apartment moments later. Harvey closes the door with his foot and presses Donna up against the wall in her hallway. His lips are fervently sucking on her jawline, her neck and her clavicles as she moans into his ear. Wrapping her right leg around his thighs, she urges him on, trying to bring him closer with her arms on his back.

His kisses are urgent and bruising. It feels like what they are doing is long overdue and Harvey wastes no time in getting lost in her. Donna's fingers alternate between pushing and pulling on his hair when he cups her breast through the thin material of her dress. He moves it to the side for better access. The sensation of his lips on her bare skin _there_ is overwhelming; her whole body slowly but surely lighting up under his ministrations.

Their mouths meet again, furiously tasting each other, licking and biting and dissolving into a wet heat that neither of them wants to pull away from. They are taking everything and then some. It's like a dam has been broken and they are both starved and breathless for one another.

She grabs his tie and takes it off quickly, eager to see more skin. Throwing the tie away carelessly, her mouth attacks his neck and she breathes in his scent which makes her want to be even closer to him.

All the reasons why they shouldn't be doing this are drowned out by her desire to be with the one person she wanted to protect so badly that she didn't even hesitate when she thought there was a chance she could - no matter how risky it was. She did something a human thinking rationally wouldn't even dream of doing. In the end, she still thought it was worth a shot and she would do it all over again if it meant keeping Harvey safe.

She is busy opening the buttons of his shirt, almost ripping them, when he hoists her up and she shrieks in surprise, wrapping her legs around his midsection instinctively. "Harvey!"

He hasn't been here since the other time and that god awful dinner party and Donna's moved things around since then, but he blindly finds his way into her bedroom. When he reaches her bed, he tries to put her down on her feet graciously but fails. It's a mess of limbs and clothes and they both laugh at how absurd their current situation is.

Donna finally manages to take off Harvey's jacket and dress shirt and is rewarded with a view she didn't think she'd ever see again. His toned abs and taut stomach, the line of hair that trails down to… Donna cocks one eyebrow and swiftly undoes his belt.

Having Harvey at her mercy is probably one of her favourite things and she doesn't hesitate in pulling the rest of his clothes down his body until they land in a puddle at his feet . He steps out of them and mumbles, "I want to see you. You're wearing way too many clothes right now," while staring at her cleavage and the red spots his kisses left on her freckled chest.

Donna takes a step back teasingly. Seductively, she bites her lip and unties the black, thin straps around her neck, then she pulls the white dress over her head in one fluid motion.

In many ways, it is like the last time, the other time, when they come together. Less sticky maybe, but definitely just as fun and comfortable. They are so in sync, it almost feels like an effortless dance. She takes control and Harvey doesn't protest. Donna is a natural leader and he knows just how good it feels to see her above him. She pulls her hair out of its ponytail and her fiery red hair falls like a curtain around their faces while they kiss and she joins their bodies.

They don't speak except for the occasional exclamation. Neither of them says anything about the upcoming trial or the future. It doesn't matter right now. It feels like are finally where they are supposed to be, like they should have kissed and made love all along, but they chose to stay friends instead.

Eventually, when their hair is a mess and they are too exhausted to move, they lay down. Donna's head rests on his chest while Harvey draws nonsensical patterns on her bare back.

.

.

.

He is gone when she wakes up the next morning. It's not unexpected but it still hurts more than she cares to admit.

The next time she sees him, it's when she is put on the stand at the mock trial at the firm and Louis asks her if she loves Harvey. She doesn't have an answer. She doesn't have the answer everyone expects to hear. So, she hurries out of the room, flustered and with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

The elevator closes right in front of Harvey's face. But he takes the next one down and hurries after her.

They talk it out. They make it work.

.

.

.

* * *

_A/N: I thought it would be fitting to add layers but leave it open-ended. It's open to your own interpretation. Reviews are very much appreciated._


End file.
